Voter ID: a solution but no problem

A Pew Center on the State study found one in eight voter registrations, some 24 million in all, to be either invalid or carrying serious inaccuracies. It also found around 2.75 million voters who had active registrations in more than one state.

Against this backdrop the N.C. General Assembly is eyeing legislation requiring voters to present a photo ID before casting their vote.

It won't solve any of the actual problems listed above.

It will instead create a new slate of problems and will guarantee legitimate voters are turned away from the polls.

Voter ID legislation does poll well, as the proposition put forth seems very reasonable: You have to show an ID to get your prescription refilled or even to purchase cigarettes, and pretty much everyone has a photo ID, so what's the problem?

The problem is it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. The core argument that a photo ID is needed is that it will prevent one voter from impersonating another and casting their vote.

The fact is that such occurrences almost never happen. Documented instances of this type of voter fraud are rarer than your chances of being hit by lighting, nearly as rare as your chance of winning the lottery.

Research and studies show an average of one case of voter fraud per 15 million eligible voters. The administration of President George W. Bush administration embarked on a five-year campaign focusing on voter fraud. Nationwide it managed charges against all of 120 people.

There's a reason for that: It's an incredibly stupid way to attempt to swing an election. The risks of getting caught are extremely high, and the result is a Class I felony charge.

Voter ID proponents' arguments rest on arguments that voter fraud is a problem and people committing it just aren't being caught, thus implementing this measure is a sensible preventive measure that won't inconvenience anyone.

It's a nice theoretical argument, but in the real world it is going to be more than a minor inconvenience to a few people. Aside from introducing potentially hundreds of thousands of people to the joys of interfacing with the Division of Motor Vehciles, the costs of this measure could be considerable. Board of Elections officials and poll workers will need to be trained to enforce the new laws, photo ID cards will need to be paid for.

A number of groups are lining up to fight the measure, including the NAACP and the League of Women Voters. Karen Oelschlaeger, president of the League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County, says her group's opposition is based on three factors:

It will disenfranchise voters, it will be costly, and it's unnecessary.

Oelschlaeger noted that "a voter ID bill could potentially disenfranchise thousands of eligible North Carolina voters. The state Board of Elections recently evaluated DMV records and found 612,955 voters may not have a DMV-issued license or ID card - almost 67 percent of these voters are women. Further, national studies have shown that low-income citizens, African-Americans, the elderly, and those under the age of 24 are among those least likely to have a current government-issued ID.''

A public hearing on voter ID is slated to be held in Raleigh on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Legislative Office Building Room 643 (330 N. Salisbury St, Raleigh, NC 27603). People who would like to speak must sign up in advance here: www.ncleg.net/Applications/RTS/hce.aspx.

Those who would like to submit their comments but are unable to attend the Raleigh hearing may email Mark Coggins, Legislative Intern, in Rep. David Lewis' office at lewisin@ncleg.net.

It's almost a given this measure will pass. We expect very few if any cases of voter fraud to be caught as a result of it.

We do expect to hear plenty of stories of legitimate voters being denied the chance to exercise a bedrock function of democracy. And we don't expect history to treat this episode of North Carolina politics kindly.